Hail Caesar: Carthaginians versus Gauls AAR

After months of not being able to get our gaming group's schedules aligned, Eric and I were able to meet up for a 1 on 1 game of Hail Caesar at one of our local shops.  This battle on a 4' x 8' table put my invading Carthaginians and allies against the Gallic chiefs of the area.  

The Carthaginians arrived first and placed their cavalry on the right flank.  This consisted of elite Liby-Phoenicians, Gallic traitors, and small units of Numidians and Ligurians.

The center division was composed of the heavy Libyan formations, with supporting Numidians and Ligurians, and an elephant.

The left flank was composed of traitorous Gauls, with a few Samnites in support. 

The Gallic chiefs  packed their ranks with warbands for the left and center comments, withe the most elite units opposite the Carthaginian heavy infantry.

In addition to warbands, the Gallic right flank included their cavalry,  strategically placed as far away from the Carthaginian elephant as possible.  

The Gauls began an advance with their center and right flank, but the left flank refused to budge.

Carthage sent forth their Gallic and Samnite allies, along with part of the heavy infantry, and the melee commenced.  

Enraged at their countrymen's treachery, the Gauls managed to destroy and push back many of the warbands on Carthage's left flank.

While some of the Samnites and Numidians also lost ground, Carthage's heavy infantry managed to hold.

The rest of Carthage's heavy infantry and cavalry finally began their advance.

Carthage's left flank continued to struggle against the Gallic onslaught and risked collapse as the warriors were either killed or fled the battlefield.   

Carthage's center did much better, pushing back some of the Gauls and killing their general.

The Gallic warbands attempted to charge the Carthaginian cavalry, but failed to close the distance.  The Carthaginians then slammed into them and expected to crush the Gauls.

However, the supposedly elite Liby-Phoenician cavalry lost the round and fled the battlefield like cowards.

With their light cavalry pressed into heavy combat, it was questionable on if Carthage's right flank would survive or collapse. 

At this stage, the battleline was a mess and uncoordinated melees covered the battlefield.

Carthage's left flank finally collapsed and the surviving units started to retreat, often picked off by the Gauls before they could escape.

Meanwhile the heavy Libyan formations and elephant found success in pushing back many of the Gallic warbands, eventually breaking the Gallic center.

The Gallic cavalry began a flanking maneuver on the Carthaginian center.

Unexpectedly, the Numidian and Ligurian light cavalry fought fiercely enough against the Gallic warbands to crush their resolve and the Gallic left flank collapsed, causing their entire army to flee the battle. 

Despite significant shortcomings at the start of the battle and a real belief that I was done for, the Carthaginians managed to hang on by the skin of their teeth and survive for another day. 

Italian Wars: Landsknecht Units

With the release of Warlord Games' "Death and the Landsknecht" supplement, members of my gaming group are interested in running some larger Italian Wars games, particularly Pavia.  As the bulk of my current Holy Roman Empire army is made up of city militia units with only one unit of landsknecht, I decided it was time to bring some more mercenaries into the fold.

First up are two new command stands featuring Georg von Frundsberg and Götz Von Berlichingen.  The main figures are Warlord Games' dedicated miniatures, with additional miniatures from Foundry, Wargames Atlantic (conquistador drummer), and two TAG miniatures repurposed from an earlier command stand I had built.  There are some differences in figure height and bulk between the various manufactures, but I think they look reasonable enough. The figures are attached to the stands with magnets, so they can be easily broken down in the future if I want to do something different with them. 

Next are two large pike blocks assembled from Foundry miniatures and the plastic Warlord Landsknecht set.  There is a bit of size variation in the Foundry line, with my figures ranging 26-29mm to the eye, and the mercenary character set being much bulkier (I believe it was a different sculptor than the majority of the line).  The Warlord figures sit right in the middle of that size range, so the overall blend looks fine. I was not a fan of some of the Warlord head options (they look too big for the bodies), so I've mixed in some spare Perry heads I had in the bits box.

To support my pike blocks, I assembled some strips of Doppelsöldner with  Zweihänder swords. Depending on the rules set, they can either be added to the front rank of my pike blocks or set up as small associated units. The miniatures are a mix of Warlord Games Landsknechts, Wargames Atlantic conquistadors, and some 3D prints designed by Peculiar Companions (Erramir Orlans).  The Wargames Atlantic miniatures are bulkier than the other two lines, but I decided to still mix them.

A Foundry great cannon and crew.

I really wanted to add some Steel Fist miniatures to my army and looked into ordering Doppelsöldner and mounted crossbowmen, but the quoted shipping from the UK to the US was astronomical (~50%), and this was even before the tariffs kicked in.  I looked at a US stockist, but their inventory was pretty threadbare.  About the only thing remaining were  knights, so I bought six with Zweihänders. As with the above Doppelsöldner, these could be added to a pike block or kept in their own small unit.

Lastly, there are my mounted crossbowmen.  As mentioned, I had hoped to get the Steel Fist set, but opted to buy the cheaper 3D prints designed by Peculiar Companions. They are smaller than the Perry cavalry, but are fine in separate units.

And with that, I think I now have enough units to more than support my portion of this project.  Now we just need to find time in everyone's schedule to get this battle started.

Italian Wars: Spanish Units

 So almost a year ago I thought I had wrapped up my Holy Roman Empire army for the late medieval/early renaissance era. But as with a lot of gamers, new toys catch your eye and you find an excuse to add to your army.  For me, I was standardizing the storage boxes for this army from the mishmash I had, and now found myself with additional space in the new box that had to be filled with something.  Finding a few packs of Artizan Spanish on clearance at my local store, I thought they would make a nice addition to the army.  Of course a few packs don't add much, so I ordered two boxes of the Wargames Atlantic conquistadors to fill everything else.

First up is a command stand. Though I know Spain converted over to the Cross of Burgundy banner early in the wars, visually I don't find it very appealing and decided to use the earlier flag. Trying to paint the details in on a flag that size was beyond my aging eyes, so I just used a printed version. The commander and drummer are Wargames Atlantic plastics with a metal Artizan figure holding the banner. I think the two manufactures' figures are very similar in height and heft, so they are very easy to blend together.

Spanish sword and bucklermen from Artizan Designs. For the heart shaped shields, you either had to fit them with the wide edge towards the hands or shoulder; I wasn't sure which would be more proper, but guessed hands.  Hopefully I got it right.

Crossbowmen from the Kingdom of León. These were made form Wargames Atlantic figures with spare pavises from Old Glory. Frustratingly, the WA kit doesn't really include enough crossbow quivers for all the figures; because I wanted more firing/preparing to fire figures rather than loading (the loading hand is sculpted attached to the quiver), I ran short by one, even using two boxes of the kit. And if you go with the arquebus handgun option instead, there are no ammo pouches included at all.  My other major complaint about the kit is that the paired arms aren’t numbered (and they aren’t always close to one another), so it was a bit of an annoying guessing game during assembly. Definitely a poor design choice by WA.

Pikemen. The majority of the figures are WA, with a few Artizan thrown in. As with most of my army units, I made the artistic decision to use a unifying color palate for the unit based on the banner they carry. The WA pike are very short (approximately 50mm) compared to other manufactures, which is a bit disappointing visually.  Again, I'm not sure why WA made that decision.  One thing I will get WA credit for is the wide variety of head options available. I chose to avoid the morion helmets to give the unit an earlier feel, and I still managed to get quiet a bit of diversity of out of what remained.

Despite the shortcomings of the Wargames Atlantic kit mentioned above, I think they are a good value for the money and overall I'm happy the assembled figures. Throwing in the Artizan Design figures also gives you a bit of additional variability that only improves to the look of the units.

Early Italian Wars: More Units and Final Army

The refurbishment/expansion of my Late Medieval/Early Renaissance army for the Holy Roman Empire is now complete. 

First up is another commander flying the Hanseatic League banner, which is also the coat of arms of the lead Hanseatic city of Lübeck.  The figures are plastics from Perry's War of the Roses line. 

More mounted knights in plastic from Perry. While the overall combined height of horse and rider is similar to my Front Rank knights, the riders are much smaller and the overall bulk is less. Having both units on the table looks fine, but I wouldn't mix figures into one unit.

A supply cart from Front Rank.

Early Landsknecht pikemen from The Assault Group. I only needed 30 for my pike block, so used the other two as another command unit. Size-wise, they are around the same height as Old Glory and only slightly smaller than Perry.

Old Glory miniatures arquebusiers painted in the colors of Münster.

A mix of Old Glory and Perry plastic arquebusiers from Kiel. The Perry figures are a little taller and more slender than the Old Glory figures, but I think the variety of poses allows them to mix well enough in this unit.

Perry, Crusader, and Wargames Foundry arbalest crossbowmen from Lübeck. The Perry and Crusader miniatures are sculpted in a very similar size and style and blend in quite well.  The older Foundry figures, while nice, run on the smaller side, so you'll have to be a bit more careful with how you mix them in. 

And with that my army is now complete. It was fun to revisit a project I started nearly 20 years ago for Warhammer Ancient Battles and I am really happy they are now getting time on the table with my Hail Caesar group after so long in storage. So far they have managed to beat the Hussites and Hungarians in two close battles, but we'll see if their luck continues to hold.

Early Italian Wars: More Command, Pikemen and Artillery

I'm back with more figures for my Holy Roman Empire army for the early Italian Wars.

For some reason my phone camera had issues capturing the appearance of the flags on the command stands with my normal photography setup; to give a more accurate assessment, I've also shot the figures against a white background under normal lighting. 

Command Stand 1: Count of Württenberg with the Reichssturmfahne. Figures by Front Rank.

Command Stand 2:  Elector of Saxony with the Reichsrennfahne. Figures by Front Rank.

Pikemen from Hamburg. Figures from Perry (plastic) and Crusader Miniatures.

Medieval Artillery. Figures and large cannon from Front Rank, small cannons from Old Glory.